Monday, November 29, 2010

Chapter 9

After Jay gave me the card, he announced that he had to leave. I looked at the clock and realized that it was only 3:30. Why did he have to leave so early? “To check in, and get ready for the flight. I need to call the office in California to co-ordinate some things so I figured I could just do it from the airport.” Jay explained, and i nodded my head. That made sense. I hugged him, tears still running down my cheeks. Not full out sobbing, no, I was done with that for the moment. I was accepting what was going to be my life from now on. Thankfully, Jay and I were both pretty technologically advanced, we could totally handle Skype. And, if I was going to be travelling with Richie all over the world it would come in handy even more. And we both had blackberries, we could totally handle this.

I backed away slightly and smiled up at Jay. To say I would miss him was an understatement, but we were both strong people. “Well, dearie, you had better get going. Have a safe flight and message me when you land. Don’t forget to take Gravol or something, I know you don’t like to fly. I’ll miss you, and I love you!”

Jay nodded, said “I will, the Gravol is in my pocket. I’ll miss you too, and I love you. Have a good time, don’t work too hard, and listen to Richie. Don’t get into trouble. I’ll message you as soon as I’m able, and I want to hear about all the places you see! Skype date at least once a week?”

“Sounds good to me! Now, scoot!!” I knew if I didn’t let him go now, it would be even harder later. So we hugged again, Jay shook Richie’s hand, said “Take care of her, yeah?” and then he was gone. I backed up into Richie’s warmth, getting as much strength as I could from him. He put his arms around my waist and rocked me, gently, until I calmed down. There had been so many tears today. This entire ordeal had been full of tears. I knew there would be more tears later on, but for today, I was done.

“You ready to head out to Jersey, Hun?” Richie asked. I nodded, finally ready. I had said my goodbyes. I had everything done. Richie grabbed the card and the pictures off the table and guided me out to the truck. Once we were in and situated, he grabbed my hand and held it all the way to Jersey, a silent show of support and love. Once we got to his house, which, by the way, was freaking huge! We walked in and I noticed that it was all done in warm, taupe hues. “It’s beautiful!” I said. There wasn’t much else to say, it was amazing. Oak floors, high ceilings, gorgeous accessories. The furniture was comfortable looking, more for actual sitting than just looking pretty. I was impressed.

Richie smiled, grabbed my hand again, and pulled me towards the stairs. “Come on, lets go see your room.” As we reached the top of the stairs, there were a few doors on either side. The first two on each side were spare rooms, each with their own en suite. Then came the last two. My room was on the left, his was on the right.

As I walked into my room, I gasped. How had he known? The room was painted my favourite colors, red and green. The red was a perfect red, not orange, but more cranberry. There was a queen size sleigh bed on one wall, with an armoire on the opposite. A desk sat on the other wall and on the red wall sat a couple armchairs, perfect for curling up with a good book. There were two doors on the wall with the desk, one went into a large walk in closet, and the other into a bathroom. It was amazing. I turned around and hugged Richie, not really knowing what else to say. He laughed, hugged me back and said “You’re welcome.” As we were walking down to the kitchen, he explained that the house had a theatre, library, game room, formal dining room, eat in kitchen, and in the basement, a recording studio, pretty cool. As we reached the kitchen, I slowed to a stop. It was gorgeous! Red walls, antique white cupboards, and stainless steel appliances. What really finished it off was the granite countertops and oak floors. Richie grabbed a muffin from the basket on the island and handed it to me, before taking one for himself.

“So do you think your room’s going to be alright? I wasn’t sure what in it, so if there's anything that needs to be added just let me know so I can ask Maria to get it.” I must have had an inquisitive look on my face because Richie explained that Maria was his housekeeper, and she was responsible for my room.

“No, I don’t think there’s anything else I will need, she did a fantastic job. Thank her for me will you?”

“You can do it yourself, dear,” said a voice from the entryway. I jumped, and Richie laughed. “Hey Maria!” I turned around to see a small Latina woman walking towards me. She had greyish hair and a kind, smiling face. I liked her instantly. She had a gentle, mothering look about her. “Thank you so much for the room. It’s gorgeous!”

Maria smiled slightly and said “You must be Sydney. You are beautiful, just like your Daddy said.” I looked up at her from where I was sitting, not really knowing what to say. “Um. Thank you.” I said, lamely. She just smiled and nodded. “If you need anything, dear, just come and get me!”

“Thank you!” I called after her, as she was bustling around the kitchen.

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Life at Richie’s was totally different from anything I had ever experienced. When Mom and Dad were alive, I did a lot of my own stuff, laundry, tidying, dishes, etc. At Richie’s though, that’s what Maria did. I tried to do my own laundry, but she took it from me with a short “That’s what I’m here for.” I just sighed and nodded.

Richie seemed really concerned for how I was holding up. I was still having nightmares that left me breathless and shaking, and unable to go back to sleep, so I ended up heading over to Richie’s room and crawling in with him. It was just a phase, with all that had happened, it was normal. I googled it. Richie had really become my rock, my safe place. He just really seemed to get me, never putting me down or telling me I couldn’t do something, but always encouraging me and telling me how amazing I am. I was actually starting to believe it, and that scared me a little bit. When I start to believe something, it usually comes back and slaps me in the face.

I still hadn’t met Ava, Richie’s daughter. I had talked to her on the phone, she was a bit younger than me, and seemed excited that she finally had a “big sister.” I normally just smiled and went along with it, but I found it really hard to think about another sibling other than Ally. It was still to fresh. But Ava was young, so I went along with it.

A month had passed. A month since Mom, Dad and Ally died. A month since Richie came into my life. A month since I kissed my past life goodbye and had to go into a new one. And a new page was about to unfold. Today we were heading to Jon’s. Sure I had talked to him on the phone quite a bit, but I hadn’t actually met him yet. We were in Richie’s truck heading over. Richie kept asking me “Are you ready for this?” Honestly? I don’t know. I just kept repeating over and over in my head that I could do this.

We stopped at a corner store to get a drink, and as we were standing in line a guy came up behind me and said “Hey gorgeous, you got a number?” Richie stiffened and turned around, but I was faster. “Yeah, 911. You’re gonna need it if you don’t back off.” The guy’s jaw dropped and he turned around and walked away, muttering something about “Mouthy chicks”. I turned around to see Richie’s jaw had dropped too. “You know, if you keep standing there like that you’re going to catch flies.” I gently pushed his mouth up and giggled at his response. He had never seen the quick sarcastic, bitchy side of me, and honestly I never let it show very much. I was usually scared of people’s reactions, but when I let it loose…well, lets just say that was a small taste.

We paid for our drinks and walked back out to the truck, then started back on our trek to Jon’s. As we reached the iron gates, a large imposing mansion stood in front of us. I gulped quietly. We drove up the winding driveway and got out. Just as my door shut, Richie was at my side and we headed up to the door. As we reached the step, the door swung open.